For all I knew, he thought that Isaiah and his two best friends had raped me and dragged me back to St. Mary’s to tell Bain. I wondered if Bain knew what had happened that night. He knew I had taken his car, so did he know what went down after?
Cade ran his tongue over his teeth and shut his eyes briefly before opening them back up and snapping his gaze to mine. He no longer looked like the golden boy that I once thought he was. He looked lethal with his angry scowl and the determined set of his jaw. “Isaiah isn’t sleeping.”
My head slanted, a piece of my hair tickling my arm. “Okay…” I trailed off because I had no idea what to say or why the sudden change in the conversation. “Did he send you here to tell me that? Is he sleeping in this morning? You know, I didn’t ask to have a babysitter. It’s fine. You can go.”
He dismissed the last part of my sentence. “He’s at the pool, doing laps. He does that when he’s really worked up about something. He sent me here to make sure you were good. He wants eyes on you at all times, especially now that his father knows your face.”
My mouth gaped. “The pool? There’s a pool here? It’s cold out, though.” He had to be freezing.
Cade flicked an eyebrow up as his lips twitched. “It’s an indoor pool, Gemma. How did you not know there was a pool here?”
“Is there a swim team?” What else did I not know about St. Mary’s?
Cade shook his head. “The pool is off limits. There was a swim team, but...” He shrugged. “Someone drowned or something, so the SMC shut it down. It’s supposed to be drained at some point.”
My mind got held up on the “someone drowned or something” part, as if that was normal. But Cade continued on past that, once again, dismissing it. “I was hoping you could help.”
I took a step back, resting against the door. “Help with what?”
I caught the sharp angle of Cade’s jaw as he looked away. “With Isaiah. I’ve never seen him like this, and...” His Adam’s apple bobbed up and down with a harsh swallow. “And I’m worried. I can’t get through to him. He has a lot going on, more than you know, and he needs to be sharper. If he’s planning on doing what I think, he needs to be focused and tenacious.”
A little line of worry etched itself onto Cade’s forehead, and it seemed to dig into my belly. I wasn’t sure what Isaiah had planned, but for the first time in ever, I could see actual concern on Cade’s face. He wasn’t hiding how desperate he was, and I ran with it.
“Tell me where the pool is.”
The smellof chlorine crept under my nose, and a feeling of yearning flew through me. The pool was large, and the dark water looked inviting as it moved effortlessly at the surface. It was so vast and deep that it would be easy to lose yourself in there. To just let the water graciously cover your skin and wash away every last worry.
I heard him before I saw him. His strong arms cut through the deep blue. His dark head of hair would pop up every few seconds, and each time I’d get a glance of his straight nose and jaw, my belly would bottom out. He appeared so strong and capable as he winded back and dove down again. The splashing sprinkled through the air and fell down into the warm liquid, and I felt myself moving closer.
I wanted to learn how to swim.
Maybe I would learn once I grew roots somewhere away from Richard.
“Hey,” I shouted, dropping my bag by the door and walking closer to the edge. I was already in my school uniform, except this time, I threw on some thigh-high tights that left a thin sliver of skin showing from below my skirt. My fingers itched to take my shoes off and slide the fabric down my legs so I could at least put my feet in the water.
Isaiah suddenly stopped swimming as his wet face pulled up from the pool. Tiny beads of water ran over the curve of his jaw, and I swallowed. He was so beautiful. So dark and dangerous with that constant air of authority surrounding him, but I knew, deep down, he had a strong heart that was desperate for anything good. He tried to hide it, but I could see it. He was right the other night; he didn’t need to know all my secrets to know who I really was, and I didn’t need to know all of his to know who he really was.
“What are you doing here? Is everything okay?” Isaiah waded over to me as I stood above the edge of the darkened abyss. He gripped the side, and I glanced at the popped veins covering his hands and arms from the rush of physical exertion.
“Cade said you’re not sleeping.”
Isaiah huffed, whipping his head to the left as his temples ticked. A silent moment passed between us before he pushed onto the side of the pool and hauled himself up in one single movement. I quickly took a step back, putting distance between us.
It wasn’t that I was afraid to be near him. I’d sat in a quiet library with nothing but the sound of his breathing for the last week. But this felt different. My stomach tensed, and my heart tugged. Why wasn’t he sleeping?
Isaiah quickly shook out his wet hair, small droplets of water hitting the front of my uniform. He adjusted the low-riding black swim trunks on his hips, and I couldn’t help the way my eyes traveled over the hard lines of his abdomen. With every dip and curve, my eyes lingered, remembering how tense he felt beneath me Saturday. A work of art was what he was. I should know, I’d secretly sketched him multiple times this week without even meaning to.
“Cade has a big mouth,” Isaiah gritted, standing in the same spot, unmoving as water traveled over his skin and to the floor beneath our feet. “He has no business talking to you about me.”
My arms crossed over my uniform as I quickly glanced back at the water, taking my eyes from his body. God, I couldn't stop staring. It was one thing being in the library with him, but here? He was hardly wearing anything, and every part of my body reacted. “He said he’s worried. That’s the only reason he said anything.”
His short laugh echoed around us. “And what does he expect you to do about that?”
Hesitantly, I took a step closer to him, ignoring how he was brushing past the matter. “Why aren’t you sleeping, Isaiah?”
Isaiah said nothing. Instead, he stared at the wall behind my head, not even looking into my eyes. I craved his gaze so badly it hurt. I wanted to feel that sudden jolt that he gave me when we locked on one another. I hadn’t felt it since that night at the claiming. I smashed my lips together, still looking at his perfectly steady face. He had darkened bags underneath the thick mass of damp eyelashes, but he still appeared just as steady as ever. “You know,” I started, “I don’t sleep much either. Never have, really. Not since Tobias left.”